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A handful of B.C. wineries poured their best products last Friday at an exclusive London tasting that drew some of the city’s — and the world’s — top wine critics.

Part of a promotion organized in conjunction with Ontario winemakers and Canada House to make a splash in the London market, it was the next step for the evolving B.C. industry to gain international recognition, said Miles Prodan, executive director of the B.C. Wine Institute.

“What it’s about ideally for us, is to have B.C. wine listed on some of the influential wine lists on Michelin-star restaurants. It’s more about exposure and familiarity. That’s what our strategy is about export, because we don’t produce a tremendous amount in British Columbia, and never will compared to other regions,” Prodan said of the event.

Eight B.C. wineries and 29 from Ontario took part.

JAK Meyer, owner of Meyer Family Vineyards, was the only B.C. winery owner to attend the event and pour his own wines. Back home in the Okanagan on Tuesday, he said he expects the exposure to result in sales, once critics like Jancis Robinson, Steven Spurrier and Olly Smith, all of whom have international followings, write up their own impressions.

Robinson later tweeted of the event: “Today’s Canadian wine tasting in London (should) have dispelled a few prejudices.”

Meyer attends a lot of pourings, but this one, he said, was different.

“Any time you can get Steven Spurrier, Jancis Robinson and Olly Smith all in the same room at the same time — and we are talking only 30 or so wineries in front of these people — that’s a pretty small event to have those kinds of people.”

Meyer, who is one of the few Canadian wineries to have a distributor in London, delivered his first pallet of 44 cases of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to the UK last week to coincide with the tasting. He expects to be sending a second pallet as a result of the London tasting.

“We have received great feedback. I think we will get a lot of orders.”

Although no deals have been finalized, Meyer expects to see Meyer Family wines in two of the city’s most exclusive wine stores, Harrods and Hedonism, renowned for having the world’s most expensive wines, as well as the best values, side-by-side on their shelves. Getting on the wine lists of Michelin-star restaurants is the next step, he said.

It is one of the ironies of Canadian wine distribution that Meyer can land his wine in London at a wholesale price that is comparable to the price in the winery’s major market, British Columbia, and cheaper than if he were to ship to Ontario.

“To be perfectly honest, I can sell at a better price than I can through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. The mark-up at LCBO, if I sold at the same price, would probably come in at a price that’s $10 higher than in London.”

With the B.C. wine industry growing, he said domestic competition is going to grow as well, making export markets all the more important.

“You can’t just sit here anymore and sell all your wine in B.C. It’s a huge feather in our cap to be able to say we are in London.”

B.C. winery Poplar Grove, which doesn’t export to London, also had some of its wines chosen for the event.

“It’s always exciting to show what B.C. is doing in international markets like London. To have that kind of exposure is priceless,” said Laurie Barnes, director of sales and marketing at Poplar Grove winery. “We don’t export to London, but we do enter competitions there.

“Right now, we are fully committed to the markets we are in.”

Poplar Grove’s three principal markets are British Columbia, the rest of Canada, and Asia. The winery is growing — in 2011, it opened a new winery on the Naramata Bench capable of producing 25,000 cases a year. Production is now at 13,000 cases a year, double 2010’s 6,500 cases, and it is all being sold.

“Once we are making more wine, it would be very exciting to be in the London market,” she said. “It’s amazing having people like Jancis Robinson tasting your wine. She’s a legend. Having that kind of feedback is very important to a winery that’s growing.”

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British (Columbia) invasion draws top wine critics at exclusive London tasting

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